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Kristen O’Connor, the nurse technician from Sebastian, Fla. who made it to the top 13 on last season’s American Idol, isn’t the only nurse making waves in the media. (Learn more about Kristen in the Fall 2014 issue of Scrubs!)
In fact, many nurses moved from the hospital to the spotlight. Check out a few notable former nurses below…then tell us your favorite in the comments!
Kate Gosselin
Perhaps it’s fitting that the reality TV star is known for her sextuplets (and one set of twins), since she worked as a labor and delivery nurse. Prior to her reality series and many appearances, she was employed at The Reading Hospital and Medical Center in Reading, Pa., where she also attended nursing school, according to CBS.com.
Naomi Judd
Before Naomi Judd made her mark on country music in the 1980s and 90s with the Judds (a duo with daughter Wynonna), she worked as a nurse. In fact, the job played a part in the Judds’ initial rise to fame.
According to CMT, one of Judd’s patients happened to be the daughter of a record producer — this contact eventually led the duo to an audition with RCA executives. Not long after, the group was widely known in country music circles through their breakout hit, “Mama He’s Crazy.”
Bonnie Hunt
Of course, movie stars can be nurses, too! Before she starred in films including Rain Man, Cheaper By the Dozen and Jerry Maguire, Bonnie Hunt was an oncology nurse at Northwestern University Hospital in Chicago.
While working her day job as a nurse, Hunt took up acting as a night hobby. She kept that day job even after being hired by the Second City Theater, though eventually she had to give up the hospital for her acting career. Before she did, though, she would bring the entire cast of Second City’s main stage to the hospital to perform for cancer patients, Hunt told NurseZone.com.
Walt Whitman
And for a different type of media (and era), we come to the great poet and essayist, Walt Whitman.
Whitman had already published the first version of his great Leaves of Grass by the time he became a volunteer nurse during the Civil War in 1863. He volunteered in Army hospitals in Washington D.C., and would later write about the experience in The Great Army of the Sick.
“Singing Nurse” Jared
While the final name on the list may not be as well known as the others (yet!), we think it’s time to once again honor “Singing Nurse” Jared.
A registered nurse, Jared is known for singing to his patients, and has been honored on the talk show The Doctors. Find out more (and see him in action) in this article.
